AYUSH to recognize Yoga Asanas as sports


NEW DELHI: To promote yoga globally and to pave way for its inclusion in Olympics games, the Ministry of AYUSH is working on a proposal to give it the status of sports also so that more youths adopt it.

“Promoting it as a sport will be an added attraction for the youth. So maybe by the time we have the Olympics in 2036 or 2040, yoga asanas may find a place in the mega event,” the official said, adding there were very few sports of eastern, Asian or Indian origin in the international sports arena.

Joint Secretary in Ministry of AYUSH P N Ranjit Kumar said the proposal is currently under consideration and the ministry is in talks with the Sports Ministry over the issue.

He said this while speaking at the ”6th India Wellness Conclave 2019 – Nurturing the Wellness Industry for a Healthier and Happier India”, organised by FICCI on 25th July 2019. He also said that with India targeting to become a USD 5 trillion economy by 2024, the contribution of the wellness industry is poised to be USD 50 billion at current growth rate.

“However, we should aim for a faster growth to make it USD 100 billion industry and the centre of the new India growth story,” he said.

He also said that yoga was gaining increasing popularity the world over and stressed that the number of people who participated in the IDY in 2016 was 85 lakhs and this rose to 2.8 crore in 2017, 9.5 crore in 2018 and 13 crore this year.

“These numbers indicate people who practice yoga without any compulsion.”  “The attraction is not just to yoga but to the wellness that comes along with it,” he said.

The government is now planning to set up a Naturopathy Certification Board on the lines of Yoga Certification Board, said Kumar.

To support formalisation of the highly unorganised wellness and beauty industry, Dr Harish Nadkarni, CEO, National Accreditation Board for Hospitals and Healthcare Providers (NABH) said, “If cost is the concern for NABH accreditation, we can come out with entry level standards for the wellness centre, which will be win-win proposition for both the industry as well as NABH.”

Sharad Marathe, Chairman, AYUSH Task Force in the ministry said that the industry p

layers should target the global market and that skill development will happen the moment market demands for it.


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